Drawing 'you'!

{ 2 }

The bell rings loudly; school is finally over. Students scramble out of their seats and rush out of the classroom, the teacher yelling at them like usual. I too am in that crowd, bumping into others with my shoulder or stepping on others' shoes—all accidental—and hurrying over to my locker, staring at the notification on my phone. "𝐥𝐮𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 has accepted your follow request." I beam in excitement as I finally arrive at my locker, putting up my materials and shutting it afterward. I exit the incredibly crowded school and head over to where the buses are parked. I get on and sit down where Alex and I usually sit. I hastily unlock my phone, open Instagram, and click on Luca's profile.  

Luca has about 8-9 photos posted, mostly consisting of either his brother or some flowers. But a more recent one—posted about a week ago—catches my eye. He's in a cafeteria, probably a school cafeteria, with three others, one is obviously Levi, but the other two I completely don't recognize. There is a girl beside him smiling brightly at the camera. She has medium orange wavy hair with bangs and has the same kind of outfit that Luca has. It must be some kind of uniform they have. Across the table, beside Levi, he's got red spiky, dashing hair, and even as he's sitting down, I can tell he's pretty tall. And I can't help but let my mind wonder as to who those two are to him. Partners or simply just friends? I shake my head and exit the photo.

I spot another one, and it's a photo of a cafe. The only thing is, is that I recognize that exact cafe. It's called 'The Rose Cafe'. I went there once and it looked like a very cliché scene for when two people fall in love with each other in like a movie but heavily demonstrated. I check the description to see his thoughts about the place. He says he visits the cafe a lot with his friend, Charli. I don't know who Charli is, but I don't like them. Why are they going to this over-romantic cafe with Luca?! I check the date, and it says it was posted last month, Wednesday. Today is Wednesday, maybe he'll be there today? It's definitely worth a shot.

"Uh, Light?" I hear a voice beside me say. My shoulders spike up as I turn over to see who startled me. It was my sister. I hadn't even realized she got on the bus and sat down next to me. I gaze out the bus window, and the school isn't even in sight, we've already left the parking lot. "I didn't mean to scare you, but, uh, what are you doing?" She asks. "I'm doing a little detective work to see if I can find Luca," I reply, pointing to the post I'm currently on. She looks down at it, "oh yeah?"
"Yeah. Hey, uh, how about we go to 'The Rose Cafe'?" I suggest.
"I thought you hated that place?" Alex says, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, well, Luca might be there, hence the post I'm on," I answer.
"That makes sense, sure, we can head over there. We can just get off at a stop close to it." She offers, looking out the window on lookout. "Thanks, Alex," I say, she nods in response.


Eventually, the bus stops at a shop to let a student off, the cafe isn't far from here, so Alex and I tag along. The bus driver doesn't question as we exit the bus, and we watch it drive away. "Alright, so the cafe is a block or two away from here, we should easily be able to walk it," Alex says, already starting the path. I follow her. After what felt like hours of walking (which turned out to be only about 5 minutes), we arrive at the cafe. I jump ahead of her and stare into the cafe through the glass, looking for Luca. 

I don't spot him through the window, and me looking through the giant window might come off a little creepy to the customers inside, so I take Alex by her wrist and drag her inside. I speculate the inside, searching for Luca as we sit down. "I don't see him," I mumble. "Maybe he hasn't arrived yet or something," Alex says. She must've heard my comment. "I hope so." I watch Alex pick up a menu and start reading it; I do the same, still looking at the door for Luca or any sign of him in the window. By the time a waitress comes to us to get our order, I still haven't seen Luca.

"What can I get you two, lovelies?" She asks, holding a pen with a rose print scattered on it and a matching notepad. "I'd love to get the rose pudding cake with a strawberry milkshake!" Alex orders. "Alright," she says, writing it down, "and what about you, Sir?" I look back at the menu and order the first thing I see. "Uh, rose candy platter and uh... strawberry milkshake as well." 
"Alright, I'll be back with your orders soon!" She says, taking our menus and waving us goodbye. "A rose candy platter? Really? What even is that?" Alex interrogates. "Alex, I'm only here to see Luca. I don't really care what the hell is on my plate today." Alex rolls her eyes and glances at the door. "He hasn't arrived yet, maybe he's not coming today." Alex points out. I sigh in response. "Oh, I'm sure he'll arrive..." I say, keeping a little optimism. "I dunno..." Alex responds, pulling out her phone.

I keep my eyes fixated on the door, hoping he'll arrive. "Alex, I saw his account and it seems he— yes—lives near us, but he goes to that rich private school," I comment, turning to face her. She pokes her head up, looks back down, and taps on her phone. "Oh, maybe he hasn't arrived yet because the cafe from there is like an hour away," Alex says, showing me her phone. "Oh wow." I look at the time in the top right corner of her phone. If our school is only about 20 minutes away from this place, then that probably means he'll arrive in like 40 minutes or something (I don't know, I'm bad at math). "Do you remember what time we got here, Alex?" I ask. "Yup! Some time at about 4:32." She answers, beaming. The time right now is 4:43, so he's going to be here at 4:50-5:00. I smile at the thought of seeing him again and get nervous all at the same time.

Our waitress comes back with a platter; one dish and two drinks. She sets the drinks down and gives me the candy rose. And I'd be lying if I said it didn't look delicious. "And your cake will be out here soon." The waitress says, heading off. I rip off a piece of the candy petals and eat it. Alex reaches over and snatches a piece too. "Hey!" I exclaim. "I'm paying, so I deserve a bite." She asserts, eating the petal. The candy tasted very sweet, and luckily for me, I love sweet things. I'm a bit of a sweet tooth. I continue ripping off petals and eating them, drinking my milkshake a few times. The waitress then comes over and drops down a cake. It looks like an average fudge cake still tasty-looking, though. She slides a knife through the cake and lets the rose pudding spill out. I lick my lips at the sight of it. She gives us both a big fork and a knife each then leaves. I couldn't help myself, diving in before Alex and taking a bite. I'm not exaggerating when it's the best dessert I've ever had, sorry Ma. I eat the rest of the rose candy and help Alex devour the cake.

We're too full to eat the rest, so when Alex has to pay, she requests a takeout box for the rest of the cake. I slurp the rest of my milkshake as I glance over to the door. That's when I realize. I totally forgot that Luca was supposed to arrive here. I check the time and see that it is 5:15 PM. Maybe Luca isn't coming, after all. I sigh, putting down my milkshake, a saddened look on my face. "Something wrong, Light?" Alex asks, I notion my head towards the doorway, "oh. Seems he didn't arrive after all." I nod, putting my elbow onto the table and letting my cheek rest in the cup of my hand. "It's alright, I'm sure we'll find him someplace else." I sigh once more, "yeah, I guess..."

Then my ears pick up the bell ringing above the door, indicating that someone had entered the cafe. I glance over there to see Luca.